Benshengren[a][1][2] are ethnic Hoklo or Hakka Taiwanese nationals who settled on the island prior to or during the Japanese colonization of Taiwan.
Its usage is to differentiate the different culture, customs, and political sentiments within contemporary Taiwan between those who lived through World War II on the island and later migrants from Mainland China, who are known as waishengren.
It can thus be inferred that the term "Benshengren" came into being after the end of World War II when the Republic of China took over Taiwan.
In contrast, many Mandarin Speakers who are ethnic Han still refer to native Taiwanese only as Hoklo people, especially in China.
In his short essay "Twenty-Four Happiness After Coming to Taiwan," he wrote: "When I first returned to the motherland, I lived on the mountain and heard the woman next door scold the child in obscene Hokkien.
With the passage of time and the emergence of new dominant powers such as the Japanese, the rift between the native ethnic groups on the island gradually faded.
Moreover, not all the people who came to Taiwan before waves of Chinese and Japanese colonial governments were immigrants from southern Hokkien and Hakka areas, such as migrants of She and Hui ethnicities.
The offspring of native Taiwanese and Nationalist era migrants are sometimes jokingly called "taro sweet potatoes".
In Paiwan cuisine, taro stems can also be used as food ingredients, but specific parts must be cut and specially processed in order to avoid physical discomfort after ingesting.
Hoklo people also make a purée dish with taro: fresh taro is peeled and cut into pieces, steamed in a basket, mashed, mixed with lard and sugar, and finally garnished with peanuts, sesame seeds, and butterflied plums.